3D left ventricular strain from unwrapped harmonic phase measurements

Purpose: To validate a method for measuring 3D left ventricular (LV) strain from phase-unwrapped harmonic phase (HARP) images derived from tagged cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Materials and Methods: A set of 40 human subjects were imaged with tagged MRI. In each study the HARP phase was computed and unwrapped in each short-axis and long-axis image. Inconsistencies in unwrapped phase were resolved using branch cuts manually placed with a graphical user interface. 3D strain maps were computed for all imaged timeframes in each study. The strain from unwrapped phase (SUP) and displacements were compared to those estimated by a feature-based (FB) technique and a HARP technique. Results: 3D strain was computed in each timeframe through systole and mid-diastole in ≈30 minutes per study. The standard deviation of the difference between strains measured by the FB and the SUP methods was less than 5% of the average of the strains from the two methods. The correlation between peak circumferential strain measured using the SUP and HARP techniques was over 83%. Conclusion: The SUP technique can reconstruct full 3D strain maps from tagged MR images through the cardiac cycle in a reasonable amount of time and user interaction compared to other 3D analysis methods.